The New World, at the edge of Totto Land's waters.
The Dawn Ark sailed across a vividly colored sea. With vast amounts of candy, cream, chocolate, and other foods dissolved in it, the water had taken on dreamlike colors, and a cloyingly sweet fragrance filled the air.
"So this is Big Mom's territory..." Robin leafed through her files. "The Totto Land Kingdom consists of thirty-four islands, each representing a food or dessert. Every month, residents must hand over one month of their lifespan as a 'protection fee' in exchange for safety and food."
Chopper shrank back in fear. "Using your lifespan as money? That's terrifying..."
"Each of the Four Emperors rules differently," Lin Yan said calmly. "Big Mom controls through fear and food, Kaido suppresses through force, Red Hair unites through prestige, and Whitebeard... embraces people as family."
He looked toward the enormous ship slowly approaching across the distant water-a ship shaped like a cake, its sails bearing the Big Mom Pirates' emblem: a skull wearing a top hat and lipstick.
"It seems our arrival has already drawn attention."
The cake ship drew closer. A tall, burly man stood on its deck. Dressed in a suit and top hat, with a scar like a line of stitching across his face, he was one of the Big Mom Pirates' Sweet Commanders-"Thousand Arms" Cracker.
"Little boat from the Blue Sea," Cracker said arrogantly. "Mama heard the Sun God's successor had arrived, so she sent me specifically to invite you to tomorrow's tea party."
He tossed out a gold-embossed invitation. It traced an arc through the air before Lin Yan held it in place with flames.
"A tea party?" Ace raised an eyebrow. "More like a banquet with a trap."
"Even if it is, do you dare come?" Cracker sneered. "Mama said that if you're too scared to come, that proves this so-called Sun God is all bluff. She wouldn't mind turning your ship into dessert."
An outright provocation.
Lin Yan opened the invitation. The time and location were written in jam: tomorrow at three in the afternoon, Whole Cake Island, Tea Party Hall.
"Tell Big Mom," Lin Yan said, putting the invitation away, "we'll be there on time."
Cracker looked somewhat surprised, but soon broke into a vicious grin. "You've got guts. See you tomorrow-hopefully you'll still be this calm then."
The cake ship turned around and left.
On deck, the crew gathered around him.
"Captain, are we really going?" Isuka asked worriedly. "Throughout the history of Big Mom's tea parties, fewer than ten guests have left alive."
"We have to," Lin Yan said. "If we avoid our first battle in the New World, countless factions will come to provoke us afterward. We'll use this battle to tell the entire New World-"
"The Sun God has arrived. Submit or be destroyed."
He turned to Robin. "Have you finished analyzing Big Mom's abilities?"
"Yes." Robin pulled up her files. "Charlotte Linlin, wielder of the Soul-Soul Fruit, can extract lifespans and give souls to objects. Her three main killing weapons are, first, Napoleon; second, the thundercloud Zeus; and third, the sun Prometheus. She also possesses an 'Iron Balloon' constitution that renders ordinary attacks ineffective."
"And her weaknesses?"
"Two." Robin raised her fingers. "First, her mental state is unstable. She has an extreme sweet tooth and goes berserk if she can't eat the dessert she wants. Second, her abilities are less effective against people who feel no fear."
Lin Yan nodded, then turned to Ace. "Ace, your job tomorrow is to keep Cracker and his Biscuit Soldiers occupied. Tashigi, handle the other officers. Chopper, prepare antidotes and stimulants. Big Mom's singing has a hypnotic effect."
"What about you, Captain?" Chopper asked.
"Me?" Scarlet-gold flames flashed in Lin Yan's eyes. "I'll have a 'good talk' with Big Mom."
The next day, Whole Cake Island.
The island was made entirely of desserts: chocolate mountains, cream rivers, biscuit houses, and candy trees. The cloyingly sweet smell in the air left first-time visitors a little dizzy.
The Tea Party Hall was an enormous cake-shaped building, already packed with people-Big Mom's children, subordinates, and some "invited" guests. Most were pale, with fear in their eyes.
At the head of the table, an enormous woman nearly nine meters tall, dressed in pink, was devouring the cake before her. She was Charlotte Linlin, the Emperor Big Mom.
"Mamamama! Has that Sun God brat still not arrived?" She slapped the table impatiently. "My patience has limits!"
Just as she finished speaking, the hall doors were pushed open.
Lin Yan walked in with Ace, Robin, and Tashigi. They had brought no other crew members, since more people would only make it easier for hostages to be taken.
"Oh? You're here?" Big Mom licked the cream from the corner of her mouth. "Pretty bold, bringing only three people."
"Three are enough to deal with you," Lin Yan said calmly.
An uproar swept through the hall.
"Arrogant!"
"How dare you disrespect Mama!"
"Kill him!"
But Big Mom laughed. "Mamamama! Interesting! Then let's see whether the Sun God is as powerful as the legends say-"
She abruptly stood, unleashing a terrifying aura! It wasn't Conqueror's Haki, but "Soul Intimidation," mixed with soul pressure. Under that aura, an ordinary person's soul would be forced straight out of their body!
But Lin Yan and his three companions didn't budge.
Three-colored flames appeared over Lin Yan's body, shutting out the pressure. Ace's Blue Flame protected him, Tashigi's Flame-Infused Inscription glowed, and Robin used the Flower-Flower Fruit to shut off her hearing.
"Not bad." Interest flickered in Big Mom's eyes. "Then how about this?"
She reached out and grasped. "Soul Pocus!"
Countless transparent soul tendrils shot from her hand toward Lin Yan! This was the Soul-Soul Fruit's power, capable of directly extracting an enemy's soul and lifespan!
Lin Yan neither dodged nor retreated, allowing the tendrils to grab him.
The instant the tendrils touched his body-
Hiss-!!!
The sound of burning.
The soul tendrils had caught fire.
It wasn't physical combustion, but "conceptual" combustion-Lin Yan's Genesis Flame could burn all "energy," including soul energy!
"What?!" Big Mom's expression changed for the first time. "My Soul Pocus... burned?!"
"Looks like your ability doesn't work on me." Lin Yan stepped forward. "Now it's my turn."
He raised his right hand, palm facing upward.
"Genesis Flame: Three Forms Evolution-"
"Judgment Day."
Three-colored flames surged skyward, condensing into an enormous "sun" of three interwoven colors at the top of the hall. As its light shone down, every Homie-the soul constructs Big Mom had given souls to-including the tables, chairs, tableware, and even the walls, began wailing in agony!
"Mama... it hurts..."
"The flames are burning our souls..."
The Homies rolled across the floor. Their "souls" were being purified, turning them back into ordinary objects.
Big Mom flew into a rage. "You dare touch my children?! Zeus! Prometheus! Napoleon!"
The thundercloud Zeus, the sun Prometheus, and Napoleon, the Emperor's Sword-the three great Homies appeared at once and lunged at Lin Yan!
Zeus unleashed lightning, Prometheus spat flames, and Napoleon sent out a sword slash!
Each of the three attacks was powerful enough to destroy a warship.
Yet Lin Yan merely spread his arms.
"Come on."
The three-colored flames covering his body spun wildly, forming a vortex. Like a black hole, it sucked in all the lightning, fire, and sword energy, then-
Converted them.
Lightning became light, fire became heat, and sword energy became sound.
The three types of energy were restructured, ultimately becoming a three-colored beam that shot from Lin Yan's palm toward Big Mom!
"Ikoku!" Big Mom roared, swinging her sword to meet it head-on!
Boom-!!!!
A terrifying shock wave exploded outward, blowing the roof clean off the Tea Party Hall! The guests were hurled away, while Big Mom's children moved to block the aftershocks.
Amid the smoke and dust, Big Mom staggered back three steps, each leaving a deep crater in the floor.
Napoleon in her hand... had snapped.
The three-colored beam had melted straight through the Emperor's Sword!
"Impossible..." Big Mom stared at the broken sword. "My Napoleon... destroyed?"
"Not just your sword," Lin Yan's voice rang out. "Your 'Soul Kingdom' ends today."
He pressed his palms together. Behind him, three-colored flames formed an enormous fiery divine figure-the phantom of Sun God Nika. Though indistinct, the sacred aura it radiated made every Homie tremble.
"Sun God Nika: Awakening Form (30%)-"
"Divine Punishment: Soul Liberation."
The fiery divine figure spread its arms, scattering countless motes of light. As they landed on the Homies, the souls forcibly bestowed upon them began... to separate.
It wasn't death, but "liberation"-freed from the objects binding them, the souls became motes of light that rose into the sky and vanished beyond the horizon.
"No-!!!" Big Mom shrieked. "My children! Come back!"
But those souls were already free.
In just one minute, every Homie inside the hall had reverted to an ordinary object.
Big Mom had lost the "army" she relied on most.
She went completely mad.
"Kill you... I'll kill you!!!"
Her body began swelling, her eyes turned bloodred, and she entered a "Hunger Pangs" rampage! In this state, her strength doubled, but she lost all reason and could no longer distinguish friend from foe!
"Mama's rampaging! Run!"
"Get off Whole Cake Island!"
Big Mom's children fled in panic.
The rampaging Big Mom lunged at Lin Yan, her hands coated in Armament Haki. Every punch could shatter a mountain peak!
Lin Yan didn't meet her attacks head-on, instead dodging constantly. He was waiting, waiting for an opening-
"Now!" Robin suddenly shouted. "Chopper's finished his analysis! Big Mom's 'Iron Balloon' constitution has a 0.3-second gap when she's rampaging! The gap is... at the back of her neck!"
Lin Yan's gaze sharpened.
He dodged one of Big Mom's punches and used Geppo to circle behind her. He extended his right index finger, an extremely compressed point of three-colored flame gathering at its tip.
"Genesis Flame: Three Forms Penetration-"
"Barrier-Breaking Finger."
One finger struck toward the back of Big Mom's neck!
Just as his fingertip was about to hit-
"Stop."
An aged yet commanding voice resounded throughout the hall.
Time seemed to freeze.
Lin Yan's finger stopped three inches from the back of Big Mom's neck, unable to advance-not because it was blocked, but because "time" had been paused.
No, it wasn't a pause in time, but some higher-dimensional "interference with the rules."
At some point, a bald old man in white robes, holding a cane, had appeared in the center of the hall. He wore a gentle smile, but his eyes were unfathomable.
"One of the Five Elders..." Robin's pupils contracted. "The Warrior God of Science and Defense, Jaygarcia Saturn Saint."
One of the World Government's highest authorities had actually come to the New World in person!
Saint Saturn looked at Lin Yan and smiled.
"Young man, let's leave it here. Big Mom cannot die yet-the balance of the New World requires the Four Emperors to maintain it."
Lin Yan lowered his finger and looked at him coldly.
"Since when did the World Government start maintaining a balance among pirates?"
"We always have," Saint Saturn said. "Pirates, the Revolutionary Army, Affiliated Nations... all forces need balance. And your appearance has upset that balance."
He paused. "However, I haven't come to be your enemy today. On the contrary, I've come... to discuss cooperation."
"Cooperation?"
"Yes." Saint Saturn nodded. "The World Government can recognize your identity as the 'Sun God's successor,' grant your 'Land of the Gods' legitimate status, and even let you participate in the Reverie. On these conditions-"
He held up three fingers.
"First, stop freeing slaves.
Second, stop attacking World Government Member States.
Third, help us... deal with the Revolutionary Army."
An outright bribe.
Status and power in exchange for Lin Yan abandoning his principles.
Everyone in the hall held their breath, waiting for Lin Yan's answer.
Lin Yan smiled.
It was a smile full of mockery.
"Saint Saturn, do you know something?" He pointed at the surrounding ruins. "Eight hundred years ago, your ancestors used this very method to buy off a group of traitors and establish the present World Government."
"But today, eight hundred years later-"
He stepped forward, three-colored flames igniting once more.
"The same trick won't work on me."
"My answer is no."
"Not only will I refuse to cooperate, I'll also tell you this-"
"Starting today, the Sun God's flames will burn through every corner of the World Government."
"Until this rotten edifice you built-"
"Collapses completely."
Saint Saturn's smile disappeared.
His gaze turned icy.
"Then... what a pity."
He raised his cane and lightly tapped the floor.
"Holy Knights, move."
As soon as he spoke, twelve figures emerged from the shadows around the hall.
They wore golden armor and carried various weapons, each radiating an Admiral-level aura!
The Holy Knights, the World Government's ultimate fighting force and the guardians of the Celestial Dragons.
Twelve of them had been deployed at once!
"Looks like you intend to surround me and kill me here." Lin Yan swept his gaze around them.
"No." Saint Saturn shook his head. "We want you alive. The Sun God's successor is extremely valuable 'experimental material.'"
He turned and left:
"Clean this up. Don't hurt Princess Poseidon-she's aboard too, isn't she?"
Lin Yan's pupils abruptly contracted.
How did Saint Saturn know Shirahoshi was aboard the Dawn Ark?
Unless... there was a traitor.
But there was no time to think now.
Twelve members of the Holy Knights struck at once!
The battle erupted!
Before you continue